We pray for the repose of their souls and for their families. May all these MBP Old Boys Rest in Peace.

Fortior Ito

Peter Ross (MBP Class of 1945) passed away aged 87.

Peter was a retired School Principal and Past President of Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club. He was also a keen golfer.

Peter was inspirational in producing the book LCWC Golf Club “Dooleys Golf 25 Years of Social Outings”. In February 2007 he achieved every golfer’s ambition a HOLE in ONE at the 8th hole at Sefton. He was a life member of the Golf Club and became a life member of Catholic Club in 1998.

Charlie Ferraro. (Class of 1964)

Charlie did not recover from the stroke he had prior to the 2014 Class of 1964 Golden Jubilee reunion

Robert 'Bobby' Sepping (Class of 1960)

Don Andrews (Class of 1951)

Don Andrews was a well-respected Old Boy who was a terrific supporter of the OBU - a regular at our Annual Dinner and 'organiser' of the Class of 1951. We extend our condolences to his son Gary (Class of 1976), and to his family and extended family (especially those at Royans - http://www.royans.com.au/about-us/our-history/).

The Night

On Friday, October 16th, around 150 alumni, brothers, current and past teachers attended the Old Boys Union Annual Dinner at Parramatta Leagues Club. It was fantastic to see so many Old Boys representing classes spanning the better part of a century; from John Eather, who began his schooling at Marist Brothers Parramatta in the 1930's (he left the school in 1941) through to Alex McCaffery and George Damah, from the Class of 2013. A special mention to those classes who celebrated special anniversaries with us at the dinner:

Class of 1955 represented by House Captains Syd Cooke and Bert GodwinClass of 1960 represented by Peter Leane, Eric Workman, Jack MunroClass of 1965 a significant contingent led by John Flynn on the occasion of their Golden JubileeClass of 1970 a contingent led by School Captain Peter WilliamsonClass of 1980 represented by School Captain Stephen King, who did so single-handedly!Class of 1990 represented by Andrew Houseman and Greg Coorey (whose son now attends the school)Class of 1995 represented by Justin Neylan, Michael McKeon, Michael Hoareau and Nathan Parker

It was also terrific to see so many past school captains in attendance: Syd Cooke and Bert Godwin 1955; Alf Smith 1961; Peter Barnes 1965; Peter Williamson 1970; Mark Procajlo 1976; Mark Atwood 1977; Greg King 1978; Stephen King 1980; Andrew Houseman 1990; Justin Decelis 1991; Brendan Decelis 1996 and James Bourne 2008. We look forward to seeing them again at our school Commencement Mass in February 2016. Again, the McCaffery's were well represented with Trevor (Class of 1982); Ben (Class of 2008) and Alex (Class of 2013) - five generations of which have attended Parramatta Marist. A warm thank you to Br Peter Stewart (former Marist Junior Principal) for attending and saying grace.

Photos

It is Never Too Late

During the consolidation of the archive following the move to the School's new admin office, there were a number of Intermediate/Leaving Certificates and School/Higher School certificates that had remained uncollected. Some dating back to the late forties. Adam was able to return some to Eric Workman (1960), John Peters, Greg Corr (1964) and a couple of others.

Yes, All Current and Former Staff are Invited to the Annual Dinner

and that includes the many femaile teaching and support staff over the years including Nicole Thomas (nee McLean) who used to teach at Marist and Denise Williams who has returned to teach at Marist 15 years after she was last teaching at the School attended the dinner.

Fund Raising

The Annual Dinner also serves as the main fundraiser for the Brother Coman Memorial Scholarships and the framing of memorabilia to preserve the legacy of this great school. Once again, we would like to thank all Old Boys who supported the raffle and auction as we have once again raised over the $4000 required to support the aforementioned causes. Thank you to Peter Bowd for running the auction and Warren Bain, Mark Currie, Mark Procajlo, Stefan Procajlo, John Flynn, the GWS Giants, Parramatta Leagues, the Sydney Swans and the NSW Waratahs for their very generous donations to the auction. A special thank you to Mr Barry Beilby (Class of 1963) for his significant ongoing support of the Old Boys Union.

The Future

Lastly, as we approach our 200th year as a Catholic School and 145th year as a Marist school in 2020, I am hopeful that we can continue to grow the Old Boys Union and networks with the school and between us. It's always great to catch up with classmates but I am frequently amazed that a casual conversation with a fellow Old boy can reveal any number of links personally, professionally and socially. And the first step in growing this network is this annual dinner - we hope to see many more Old Boys at next year's dinner.